Celtics starter a surprise darkhorse candidate for year-end hardware in new B/R projection

The odds are long, but the return could be huge.

Even with the Boston Celtics playing much better than they had been to start the 2021-22 NBA season, it could still be a bit of a challenge to think of a Celtics player whose recent play would put them in the running for one of the league’s top honors by the time the curtain closes on the regular season.

But in a new article outlining a series of potential darkhorse candidates with long odds but plausible paths to earning said hardware, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale identified a handful of longshot players to get awards like MVP, Most Improved Player, and Rookie, Executive, Coach, Sixth man, and Defensive Player of the Year.

A Celtics starter was highlighted by Favale as a potential recipient of the latter award, and if you haven’t yet guessed who it is simply by virtue of what that award honors, the player in question is Marcus Smart.